A Different Legacy
by DementedDiva2006
Summary: Set back around 2004 during the Lita/Kane pregnancy storyline. Kane believed that by using Lita he would be able to leave his legacy behind. What would happen if someone offered a different way? Story is better than the summery...
1. Chapter 1

Lita once again found herself sitting alone in the Diva's locker room. Being alone with only her thoughts she allowed herself to let out a few tears. She could not believe how wrong her life had gone so quickly. One minute she and Matt were a happy couple having fun with each other, the next their lives were turned upside down by Kane. She should have known that making a deal with him wouldn't change anything, but she was so desperate to have her normal life back that when he offered her a way out she felt she had no choice but to take it. If only she knew then what she knew now.

She placed a hand on her stomach as the tears fell. It just wasn't fair; this wasn't how things were supposed to be. Lita always imagined that when she became pregnant it would be with Matt's child. They would go shopping for the baby's furniture together and talk about possible names just like every other normal couple. Never did she think she would be forced to carry the child of a man she not only didn't love, but hated more than anything. A man so cruel he would threaten to never leave her alone until she gave in and let him have his way with her. If that wasn't bad enough, now she was going to have to marry this man. Matt did his best to win for her, to try and save her from the man that not only ruined her life, but his own. Deep down she knew Matt still loved her, but she also couldn't shake the thoughts that maybe his heart wasn't really in the match. "No" she quietly said to herself, she couldn't think like that. Of course that wasn't the case.

Lita was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't hear the door of the locker room open. The person who entered was moving as quietly as possible so as not to be heard. Once they were only a few steps behind Lita the door opened again, this time more loudly. Instinctively, Lita turned to see who had entered. As soon as she turned she was met with a baseball bat to the stomach, causing her to fall to the floor screaming in pain. The attacker quickly ran out of the room, pushing the entering Stacy Keibler out of the way as they did so. Stacy immediately started to scream for help and ran to Lita, who was still on the floor holding her stomach and beginning to bleed heavily.

It was only a matter of minutes before paramedics and police arrived. While the EMTs prepared to bring Lita to the hospital, Stacy was brought into Eric Bischoff's office for questioning for the police report.


	2. Chapter 2

On the other side of the arena Kane sat in his locker room. He couldn't believe how perfect his plan turned out; he was finally going to have an almost normal life. Sure it wasn't your typical fairy tale, but it was just fine for him. Lita had been so scared and unwilling in the beginning and while she still didn't show any emotion that came close to love towards him, he could see her starting to accept the fact that he was going to be a part of her life for a long time. That was fine, he didn't need her love. Hell, he wasn't even sure he loved her. There was only one person Kane ever remembered truly falling in love with and that was Katie Vick. He knew that no one would ever compare to Katie. She loved him just as he was… Kane shook these thoughts. There was no point living in the past, Katie was dead and it was all his fault.

Even if love would never exist between Kane and Lita, he needed to protect her at all costs right now. He could not let Lita meet the same fate as Katie. He needed her too much right now. She was carrying the most important thing in his life inside of her. He needed this child to be brought into the world so it could carry out his legacy. Thinking about how good it was going to feel to have someone to look up to him and walk in his footsteps brought a small smirk to Kane's face.

Just then there was a knock on his locker room door.

"What?" Kane yelled angrily.

Slowly the door opened and a stagehand poked his head in the room, "Sorry to disturb you Sir, but Mr. Bischoff needs you in his office right away. He said it's important."

Kane stood and the stagehand quickly ran away from the door. Smirking even more he made his way out into the hallway and began walking to the GM's office. Turning a corner he literally ran into a woman coming quickly from the opposite direction. The impact caused the girl to stumble back a little, "Why don't you watch where…" she began until she looked up and saw who it was ran into. Kane glared at her. "What was that?" he asked. Putting her hands up in an 'I surrender' way, she walked around him without another word and continued her way down the hall. Kane could have sworn he saw her smile a little was she walked away. He shook his head and continued walking. Once he was a few feet from Bischoff's office the door opened and Stacy Keibler walked out. When she saw Kane her face went from a look of fear to sadness and finally fear again. She walked away very quickly down the hall.

When Kane entered Eric's office he was confused to see the police in the room. Before Kane had a chance Eric began to speak. "Kane, I'm going to cut right to the chase. Lita was attacked tonight in her locker room by some unknown attacker. I assure you we are doing everything in our power to find who is responsible for this."

Kane's face went from shock to anger in seconds. "Where is she? What kind of attack?"

The officer spoke this time "She was taken to the hospital about an hour ago. From what we have been told by the witness, she was hit in the stomach with a baseball bat. We…"

"Is my baby alright? Where is the hospital?" Kane began to get frantic. If something had happened to his child he was going to personally make sure the person responsible would die a very painful death.

"We don't know anything about her condition. We can escort you to the hospital right away if you want, we need to question Lita to see if she can give us some information that Ms. Keibler was unable to provide."

"We are leaving now." was all Kane had to say. Stopping only to get his belongings he made his way to his car.

Following the police car, the drive felt endless. After what felt like hours, but was actually only 10 minutes, they arrived. Kane immediately went to find out where Lita was and her condition. It wasn't long before he found her room and got the news he was dreading from the doctor, the baby did not survive.


	3. Chapter 3

Kane sat in the room with Lita for a while, neither saying a word to each other. All Lita wanted right now was to be left alone. She didn't bother to try and ask him to leave; she didn't have the fight in her right now. The silence was finally broken when the police investigator entered the room. He asked her for her version of the events but she didn't have much to say.

"I was just sitting by myself when I heard the door open, next thing I knew I was on the floor with Stacy Keibler by my side." The officer nodded, Kane left the room at that moment. "I know it wasn't Stacy who attacked me, she wouldn't have had the time. Someone else must have come in right before she did. Was she able to give you any information?"

"Not much more than you, whoever did this kept their face covered. We are going to get the security tapes from the arena and see what information we can gather from there. I'm sorry we aren't able to give you more answers right now. Unless you have any questions for me I'll leave now so you can get some rest."

Lita only nodded and the officer left. She felt empty, confused, and scared. She felt like she should be crying, but the tears weren't coming. She wanted desperately to call Matt and have him comfort her. When the nurse came in to check on her she asked if Kane was still in the building. After finding out that he left she felt it was safe to call Matt and ask him spend the rest of the night with her.

After dialing his number she waited, hoping he would pick up.

"Hey Li, what's up?"

"Matt, I'm in the hospital right now. I…"

"What happened? Did that son of a bitch hurt you? I'll kill him." Matt started yelling into the phone.

"It wasn't Kane." Lita answered calmly. "I got attacked in the locker room and right now nobody seems to know who did it."

"Attacked how? Are you alright?" Matt waited for a few seconds for her to answer. When all he heard was her sobbing he asked her again "Lita, what happened?"

"I lost the baby Matt." was all she choked out.

He was speechless. Would she ever catch a break? She had been through so much already she didn't need this right now. It didn't help that he was already feeling guilty about everything bad that happened to Lita in the last few months. Because of him she made a deal with Kane that left her pregnant. It was because of him that she now had to marry that monster. The guilt was slowly eating him alive inside. Now she was going to have to deal with losing a baby.

Lita finally broke the silence and asked him to spend the night with her in the hospital. He agreed and made his way to her.

Walking into her room he was scared of what he saw. Lita's eyes, that used to be so full of life and energy, were blank. Her face was expressionless, she looked like a corpse just laying there. He took a seat by her bed. He wasn't sure what he should do next, he didn't know if he should or would be able to speak to her, so he took her hand and just held it. The only response he got was a muffled "Thanks for coming" from Lita.

"I'm always here for you babe." he answered quietly squeezing her hand slightly.

A few minutes passed and Lita closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep. He sat and just watched her until a nurse came in to check on her.

"Oh good, she's finally getting some sleep. Poor thing hasn't had any rest since she got here. Are you the husband?" She asked. Matt couldn't help but let out a little laugh. 'I should be' he thought to himself. Not wanting to be rude he shook his head, "Not exactly" he said.

"My mistake. Well, she seems to be doing fine now. Other than the tragic loss, she's very lucky to not have any major injuries. We should be set to release her in the morning. Are you going to be taking her home?" Matt nodded and said a quick "thank you" before the nurse left.


	4. Chapter 4

The ride to the hotel from the hospital was silent. Lita just stared out of the window still showing no emotion. Matt was really beginning to worry about her. She must be feeling so many things right now; it wasn't good for her to keep them all in. He was at a loss as to what to do for her.

When they entered Lita's room she made her way over to the bed. On the way there she tripped on one of her shoes and fell to the floor. "You alright?" Matt asked as he walked over to her to help her up. Once she was on her feet she grabbed Matt around the waist and began to cry uncontrollably.

"It's not fair" she said, her words muffled into his shirt. "I know it isn't" he replied, rubbing her back.

"I never wanted any of this to happen, it was always supposed to be you and me. Everything I did was for us. I know how hurt and mad you were… are… that I did what Kane wanted, but I didn't know what else to do."

"I'm not mad…" Matt tried to interrupt, but Lita kept talking.

"I never wanted to be pregnant, but after it happened… and I know this is going to sound crazy, but this baby was what was keeping me going. I knew I had to protect it from_ him_. It was a small bit of normalcy in this whole fucked up situation. What am I supposed to do now? What if he… what if… he makes me try again…" She was not able to say anything else. Matt didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell her everything would be alright, but when someone is upset they don't want to hear that. Instead he just continued holding her.

Once Lita's crying slowed she went to pull away from Matt. "I'm sorry, but I think I need to be alone now. Thank you for listening, for everything."

He didn't want to leave her like this, but he didn't want to upset her further. "Alright Li, but call me if you need anything. I mean it, I don't care when or what time. Alright?"

She nodded. Matt gave her one last hug and left the room.

Lita went into the bathroom and started the water in the tub. "I just need to try and calm myself down" she said out loud to herself. She cleared her head as best she could and zoned out in the hot water. It wasn't too long before she heard the door to her room open. Figuring it was Matt, she sighed. She was happy he was there for her when she called, but right now she really did need to be alone. She decided to ignore this for now, hoping he just forgot something and would leave quickly. Then there was a knock on the bathroom door.

Sighing she said "Matt, I said I wanted to be alone right now."

She was answered by another knock on the door. "Please, Matt. I'm going to be fine. Thanks for letting me have my breakdown, but I really just need to be by myself now."

Knock, knock, knock…

Now she was starting to get angry. Getting out of the tub, she wrapped herself in one of the hotel towels and answered the door. "Alright I'm out now. What do…" She stopped mid sentence and screamed. Kane quickly silenced her with his hand and walked her over to the bed.

"I thought we were past all this yelling by now" he said quietly. Removing his hand from her mouth he forced her to sit down on the bed next to him. Lita clutched the tiny towel closer to her body 'please not this, not now' she thought, a few tears forming in her eyes. Pulling her closer to him, Kane began to pet her red hair, every once in a while bringing some pieces up to him nose to smell. Feeling Lita shake next to him made him smile. 'Good' he thought 'she still knows who's in control here.' The minutes passed and felt like hours to Lita. Finally, Kane broke the silence.

"So you had Matt take you home from the hospital. I have to admit I was a little surprised when I showed up this afternoon and they told me you had already been discharged. I mean, first I have to find out that you are in the hospital by Bischoff, next I have to find out that not only did you go home but you called that bitch Hardy to come get you. I have to say I'm disappointed in you. I would think you would have at least had the decency to call me yourself and tell me that _MY_ child was dead."

Lita jerked away from him at this point and slapped him across the face, she had had enough.

"DECENCY! Holy shit, seriously? How dare you of all people talk about decency. Jesus Christ, this was all your fault. If you had any decency you would have never bothered me or Matt. You heartless piece of shit, how dare you! I have news for you, _YOUR_ child was mine also. You have no idea what I'm going through right now. You have no idea what it feels like to have another living thing inside you, no idea how it feels when it's violently and painfully taken away. Nobody has any idea who did this to me, but you know something I BLAME YOU! Everything was your fault. I can't stand you."

Lita stood there breathing heavy, not caring about what she just said. She didn't care how he was going to react; it felt good to let out her anger. To her surprise, Kane was smiling. "And here I thought you lost your nerve. This is why I chose you, you're not afraid to stand up for yourself. "

She couldn't believe him. He had to be the only person who could make her feel so small and dirty. "Can you just leave, I've been through enough these past few days and to top it all off I still have to marry you. I need time to be by myself." Seeing him just glare at her made her even angrier. "Please" she added quietly "Let me be alone right now."

Kane got up off the bed and walked towards her. He raised his hand and Lita flinched back, but all he did was brush some loose strands of her hair behind her ear. With that, he went to the door and left without another word. She went to the door and made sure it was locked before going back to the bed and collapsing on it. She was crying so much she thought her head was going to explode, until she finally cried herself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next night was Monday Night Raw. Extra security had been put in place to keep an eye out for anyone who didn't belong. The whole roster was also informed of the attack and told to be on the lookout as well. Although there was a lot of tension in the back, the show had to go on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our first match tonight is a Diva's match. Up first making her Raw debut, from New York City, Gabriella." 'Break Stuff' began to play as Gabriella made her way onto the stage and down to the ring. She was wearing black leather pants and a red corset top. She stood about 5'7 with dark blonde hair and very bright icy blue eyes, her face full of attitude.

"And her opponent, from Baltimore Maryland, Stacy Keibler." Stacy made her way down to the ring to the sounds of the crowd cheering. Once on the ring apron she began her usual entrance through the second and third ropes. Before she was completely in the ring, Gabriella ran over, hit her, and pulled her into the ring. Obviously the stronger of the two Gabby dominated the match, ending it in a matter of minutes with a power bomb to Stacy. Her celebration and the crowds boos were soon ended when Kane's music hit. Gabby watched him for a minute as he made his way down to the ring before quickly exiting as he was about to enter. Kane didn't seem to pay attention to her at all and walked over to the beaten Stacy. As she was beginning to sit up she noticed the angry look on Kane's face. She backed away from him trying to exit, but found herself in the corner. Kane grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to stand and look at him.

"What did you do to Lita? I know you know who did this, so you better get to talking" he yelled in her face.

Stacy was shocked. Not knowing what else to do she began pleading with him "Please let me go. I don't know who did it, it happened so fast. I just found her. I would never, please" "SHUT UP YOU LYING BITCH!"

With that he dragged her to the middle of the ring and chokeslammed her. He didn't care if Stacy wasn't the one who actually caused Lita to lose his child; she was witness to it and didn't do a damn thing to stop it, therefore it was just as much her fault as anyone else. Leaving her lifeless body where it was he exited the ring and made his way back to his locker room. As he walked he noticed most people either looked down or scattered away from him, afraid to make him angry. He reached his locker room, entered, and slammed the door shut. As he turned around he realized he wasn't alone, that new Diva was sitting on the bench watching him. 'Somebody has a death wish' he thought to himself.

"I don't know who you think you are and I don't know why I'm even giving you this chance, but unless you want to get the beating of your life you better get the hell out of my room now."

Gabriella just smiled at him "I liked what you did to that Keibler chick out there. Took a few notes for the next time I'm in action."

Kane took a threatening step towards her "I thought I told you to get out" he growled.

"There's no need to be so rude. Here I am giving you a complement and all you can do is kick me out. Don't you even want me to introduce myself?"

In one swift motion Kane reached out and grabbed Gabriella by the arm, jerked her out of the chair and practically threw her against the door. Getting in her face this time he spoke "I tried to let you leave without hurting you. I don't know who you're trying to impress here, but I don't put up with bull shit. Now I'm going to tell you for the last and I mean very last time, get out of here NOW!" He

She turned and grabbed the doorknob. Opening the door just a crack she turned her head back "I bet you never spoke to Katie like this" she said softly.

That was the final straw. Kane stepped up behind Gabby, slammed the door shut again, grabbed her, and threw her across the room into the lockers. "WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

For the first time Kane could see the fear in the young girl's eyes. Sitting up slowly while holding her back she spoke with a slight quiver in her voice "I know I crossed the line there, I'm sorry, but it was the only way I could think of for you to let me stay. Please, just give me five minutes to talk to you. After that you can beat the hell out of me or whatever you want, just five minutes."

'This girl's got guts' he thought. "Five minutes" was all he said.

Not moving from her spot on the floor Gabriella began to speak "Thank you. You might not believe this seeing as you don't let anyone close enough to you, but I know a whole lot about you. And I don't mean all the little things people have pieced together about you either. I know all about you and Katie, how much you loved her. I know that she was the first person to ever see you with your guard down. I know she was your first kiss, first everything really. I also know that she disappeared for some time. I can't imagine how that must have been for you; after all you just gave yourself to her in the most intimate way possible"

Kane was getting visibly more and more upset with every word, seeing this Gabby sped up her story telling.

"Anyway, I'm sure when she came back to you almost 2 years later you were besides yourself with happiness. She told you she had news, didn't she, but you said you just wanted celebrate her being home before you would hear any of it. Hours of celebrating later you got into a car and BAM! She was gone before you could ever hear what she had to say. Well lucky for you, I know what her news was."

Gabriella once again found herself in his grip, this time his hand was around her throat.

"Alright, guess my time's up. But I guess I should answer your question huh? Who the fuck am I? I'm Gabriella Vick."


	6. Chapter 6

"How dare you. How dare you come in here and start talking about things you know nothing about. You don't know me and you sure as hell don't know Katie…"

"Your right I don't know her, but maybe I would have gotten to know my mother if you didn't go and get her killed"

Kane's eyes grew in shock. Daughter? There was no way this girl was Katie's daughter.

He stared at her face for moment, really looking at her for the first time. She was very pretty just like Katie. He moved her face back and forth to see her from different angles. To his surprise he could see the similarities between her and his Katie. She had the same heart shaped lips, the same nose, even the shape of her face was the same. The only real difference he could see were her eyes. Katie had brown eyes; this girl's were a light icy blue. Even still there was something familiar about them.

This didn't make any sense. He knew Katie for years, he would have known if she was pregnant. She wouldn't have been able to hide an entire pregnancy and birth from him.

'Unless…' he thought.

Not letting Gabby out of his grasp he asked "How old are you?"

"Nineteen" she answered.

"Nineteen…" he repeated. Kane started to do the math. It had been almost 17 years since he lost Katie, which means she would have had to have her kid in the 2 years she was away from him. 'Maybe that's why she left; she fell in love with someone else. She finally came back to tell me not to wait for her'

"How could she do that to me?" Kane said quietly to himself.

"I know what you're thinking, but I think I have something you'll want to see before you jump to conclusions" With that Gabriella reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Slowly raising her hand she went to hand it over to Kane.

He moved her away from the door so she couldn't run away and forced her to sit back down where she started. Kane grabbed the paper from her and opened it.

It was a birth certificate. Well, she wasn't lying she was defiantly Katie's daughter. He paused before he read the father's name. He would kill the son of a bitch that took his Katie away from him. Taking a deep breath he glanced over to the box labeled 'Father's Name'. For the second time that night he found himself shocked. 'Glenn Jacobs' was the name typed into the spot.

He looked up from the paper to the girl sitting in front of him.

"Hi daddy" Gabriella said with a sly smile on her face.

"This isn't possible…"

"Actually it is. Why don't you sit down and I can finish my story. I'll fill you in on everything else I know"

He wasn't about to sit down, but he motioned for her to continue.

"Fine, stay standing. Well there's really not much more to tell. Katie, my mom, found out she was pregnant. She was planning on telling you the night she found out, but she told her parents first. They didn't want their daughter to have a reputation for being a slut, so they sent her away. Being only 16 she didn't have any say in it. They sent her to live with her aunt in New York where she was basically a prisoner. She wasn't allowed to use the phone, leave the house, or anything alone. That's why you didn't hear from her for so long. She had me 6 months later. From what I read in her journal she thought about you every day and wished she could at least talk to you. When she finally turned 18 and was able to leave on her own she came back home. She wanted to talk to you face to face to explain everything that had happened, why she left, why she never wrote or called. But, as we know she never had the chance."

Katie didn't want to leave him. She came back to him the first chance she had, she was going to tell him news that would have changed his life forever. And instead he killed her.

This was all too much for him, he couldn't think straight. He had a child, a daughter that was brought into this world by the love of his life. She was alive because of their love. She was his link to Katie, to his happier life, maybe even to some normalcy. He needed to be alone and figure things out.

Gabriella just sat staring at him. She didn't know what he was going to do next, but figured it was better to just wait for him to make a move or speak first. She didn't have to wait much longer before he spoke.

"Look… uh… Gabriella, don't think for a minute this is over between us. I'm letting you go, for now. I'll find you when I want to talk to you again. Got it?"

Gabby nodded and make her way slowly to the door. Kane just watched as she made her exit.

Once outside the locker room Gabriella let out a small laugh.

She couldn't believe how well that went. Walking away with only a few bruises she considered the night a success. Knowing about Kane's temper she couldn't really prepare herself for how her plan would work, she wasn't even sure she would be able to get her whole story out before he beat her unconscious. She was hoping she wouldn't have to wait too long to speak to him again, she really wanted to get to know her father. Following his career since she found out he was her father, she always dreamed of following in his footsteps. Then she thought all hope was lost when she saw him start stalking that slut Lita. Once finding out she was going to have Kane's baby, Gabby knew she had to make her move fast; there was no way she was going to take a backseat to an infant. It was her time to be with her father.

'Well, took care of that problem' she thought to herself.

She didn't really feel bad about what she did. That baby would have brought nothing but problems for her. It's bad enough that Kane's attention was going to be split between her and Lita, Gabby did not want it split a third way.

Maybe someday she would tell her father what she did, but for right now it had to be her little secret. Things were still too fragile, that news wouldn't fly so well right now.

Deciding there wasn't anything left for her to do; Gabriella left the arena and headed to her hotel.


	7. Chapter 7

Once Gabriella got to the hotel she decided she wasn't ready to end her night yet. Making her way to the lounge she walked right up to the bar and took a seat. Lucky for her the bartender was an older man, with a little bit of flirting they usually never carded her. Making sure she had some cleavage showing she called the bartender over and ordered a glass of champagne. The man didn't seem interested in the least, but poured her drink anyway. Taking a sip Gabby scanned the room to see if she could find someone to entertain her. Her eyes stopped when she noticed Matt Hardy sitting at the opposite side of the bar in deep thought.

'Probably getting himself all upset over his little slut' she thought to herself.

Gabriella was not a fan of Lita. She almost hurt Gabby's chance at getting to know her father by getting herself knocked up, she herself was probably going to get in the way as well. Lita and her father were still set to get married. She was not about to let some slut come in and take her mother's place. Lita had to pay for making Kane fall in love with her. What better way to start then by getting her boyfriend to turn on her. He wasn't the most attractive guy in the world, but he wasn't too bad to look at.

'Hmm, this could be kinda fun…'

Calling the bartender over again she had him send a drink over to Matt from her. Matt looked up after his drink arrived and gave a small nod toward Gabriella. She smiled, got up, and went to sit by Matt.

"Hi there, I'm Gabriella. Mind if I sit by you? It's a little lonely over there by myself"

"Sure you can. Look, thanks for the drink, but just so you know I'm kinda with someone" Matt said quickly.

"Well then it's a good thing I wasn't trying to flirt. I was just lonely and wanted someone to talk to and by looks of things it looks like you might need someone as well"

"Sorry m'am. I'm Matt. It's nice to meet you, but I don't think I'll be good company. I've had a bad few days"

"No problem. I've had a bit of a crazy week myself. Wanna talk about it?"

"I don't think you want to hear my problems. You don't even know me"

"True, but sometimes talking about things with a total stranger can help. Get an unbiased outlook on things. Don't ya think?"

"I guess so, maybe. Well mine is a complicated story and I don't want to bore you"

"I've got time. Spill"

Matt shook his head. He couldn't spill his guts to this girl, what good what it do? Noticing his hesitation Gabriella changes the subject.

"Alright, I get it. You don't know me from a hole in the wall. Maybe we can just get to know each other? We are working for the same company after all"

The conversation started out slow, after talking a little bit about the company and how she came to be in the WWE the topic turned to her personal life and where she grew up. She told him all about how her mother had died when she was a baby and how she never met her father (she did however leave out the little detail of who her father was). How her aunt raised her until she was 7 and then shipped her off to foster care not being able to afford keeping her anymore. Matt told her about his interests and his favorite parts about working for the company. It was only after Matt started talking about his time in WWE that the conversation eventually turned to him and Lita. Still a little reluctant, but feeling tipsy due to the drinks they kept ordering, Matt ended telling Gabby all about what was going on now and his feelings about it. Before he realized it, he had told her everything.

"I just want her to talk to me; I don't want her to suffer alone. She thinks I'm mad at her, but I'm not. I was upset about everything that happened, but never mad. Truth is I blame myself for all the bad things that happened to her. It's just so fucked up"

"I understand, but you can't blame yourself. I mean, she made all the decisions herself. I'm sure if she talked to you about everything you could have found other solutions. How were things going between you two before all this?"

"Everything was fine. Sure we've had our ups and downs, but all in all we've been nothing but happy for years. Why, do you think she wanted to leave me?"

Gabby just shrugged and took another sip of her drink. Matt didn't ever think for a minute that maybe Lita was looking for an excuse to leave him, but now that Gabriella implied that it got him thinking. 'No she loves me. Even if she wanted to break up she would never go this far, would she?' he thought to himself.

"Look, I'm sorry. Sometimes I just say things without thinking. I didn't mean to upset you" Gabriella said seeing the hurt look on Matt's face.

"It's fine" Matt answered still sounding upset.

"Let me just say this, if this really was just a way for her to move on than she's an idiot. Anybody would be lucky to have you as a boyfriend" Gabriella paused as she put her hand on top of Matt's. "I know I would feel pretty lucky…"

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"It's getting late, thanks for keeping my company. I hope talking helped out, at least a little. Hope we can do this again sometime"

Before he could say anything she got up and walked out of the lounge.

Matt sat there for a few minutes thinking about all that happened that night. When he first came down here he was trying to figure out how help and save Lita. Now he was second guessing whether or not she even wanted his help. She had been acting very different towards him since this whole Kane thing started, but that was just because she was upset. Right? Gabriella sure did give him a lot to think about. Matt did believe in fate, maybe she was sent there that night to give him a wakeup call.

'Or maybe she just wanted to flirt' he thought smiling to himself.

He wasn't used to having women flirt with him. Or maybe they did and he just tuned it out while he was with Lita, but he had to admit it felt good to have this girl be into him. She was pretty cute.

Looking at his watch he decided that it was in fact very late and headed up to his room; his mind more full now then it had been just a few hours earlier.


	8. Chapter 8

That same night, in another hotel across town Kane sat in his room. He had a child. A child that was not only his, but Katie's too. He still couldn't get over it. Why hadn't Katie's family told him about his daughter? He knew that they never really approved of them being together, but this was not something you kept a secret. Ever since he met Katie he dreamed of living a normal life, but that dream died with her and made him the monster was today. What would his life have been like if he had Gabriella to think about, to raise and take care of?

'No point in thinking about that now' he thought.

His next thought was much more relevant, what happens now? When he thought about having a child, a legacy to leave behind, he imagined raising it from a baby. They would be just like him in every way, just as ruthless and strong. Also, he figured it would be a boy. Gabriella was not only a girl, she was 19. How was he supposed to shape her into his legacy? He knew nothing about this girl, for all he knew Katie's family raised her as a church going good girl who wouldn't hurt a fly. Then again, she had shown she wasn't too weak; she stood right up to him, refusing to leave until she got what she wanted.

Why had she even come? Did she want to meet the man that killed her mother or just really wanted to know the one that helped bring her to life? Or both, they were in fact the same man. How many stories had she heard about him? Maybe she hadn't heard any; maybe her family didn't even speak about him.

"Katie, baby… why did it have to work out this way…" as he said this he felt is eyes begin to get wet with tears. This angered him, he didn't cry. Turning his sadness into rage he began to destroy everything in the hotel room. An hour passed before he was able to calm himself down. He decided he needed to really talk to Gabriella, get insight on her life. Learn what he could about her. If she was able to be molded into something useful to him then, and only then, would he keep her around. Teach her everything he knew and make her just as much of a monster as him.

Just then another thought popped into his head, Lita. Where would she fit into this? How would she react to him having a daughter? If Gabriella could prove herself, he wouldn't need Lita to give him an offspring. Still, he was going to be marrying her in two weeks. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be; he could have his family, just him, Lita, and Gabriella. Too bad Lita hated him. Maybe he should try and soften her up before he dropped the 'here's my long lost daughter' bomb. He might even be able to get Gabriella to help him with that. Get them to be friendly before he told Lita who she really was. Even though she was technically an adult, his daughter could still use a good female role model in her life. These thoughts made Kane smile and calmed him down enough to allow him to rest for the night.

The next day was spent traveling to the next house show. Matt tried calling Lita to see if she wanted to ride with him, but he got no answer. When he went to her room he found that she had already left. Shaking his head, he left the hotel and began his drive alone.

Lita had actually left in the middle of the night just so she could avoid people as much as possible. She knew it wasn't healthy for her to be disconnected from everyone like this, but she felt that's what she needed at this time. As she drove she heard her phone go off. Quickly picking it up she saw Matt's number and sighed. He was trying so hard, being so supportive, and how did she thank him… by ignoring him and pushing him away. Once he arrived at the hotel she would go to him, let him know that she appreciates everything he was trying to do. Tell him she loved him and always will no matter what happens.

She also had to call Stacy. Poor girl had nothing to do with anything that happened and yet Kane attacked her. This angered Lita so much. He didn't even bother to talk to her about what happened before he jumped to conclusions. He had to go and hurt one of the only people that hadn't treated her any different since she found out she was pregnant. Sure they weren't exactly friends, but she needed all the friendly people to be in her life now to help her get through life with Kane.

This lead to another thought, she was getting married in just under two weeks. It seems like forever ago since this whole mess started and now it was about to reach a whole new level. Unless Kane decided he didn't want to be with her anymore she was stuck. She couldn't live her life in fear anymore, fear of him snapping and hurting her, fear of him hurting the people she cared about, it had to end. Now. She also still wanted Matt in her life, even if all they could be were friends. She wished they could eventually work their relationship back to how it was before, but knew that wasn't possible while she was with Kane. If he found out they were still romantically involved he'd kill them both; no doubt about it. She was going to have to stick up for herself. She already stood up to him 2 nights ago and he didn't get aggressive at all. Maybe she could try talking to him, not yelling like last time. Come to some sort of compromise. Even though he was holding all the cards there might be a way to reason with him that would allow her to have some of her old life back.

Suddenly her to do list was very full, but all needed to happen. She decided she'd call Stacy first, apologize for what had happened and assure her that she knew she was innocent. Next, she'd deal with Kane. She never thought she'd see the day when talking to Kane went before talking to Matt, but it was necessary in this case. She needed her life to get back to normal. Well, as normal as possible with Kane. She needed him to agree with her being able to see Matt without trying to rip his head off. After that she would see Matt and tell him everything she felt about him.

It was about 10 o'clock in the morning when Lita arrived at the hotel. She checked in and made her way to her room. Once she was settled she began to figure out exactly how her Kane plan was going to work.


	9. Chapter 9

The next few hours went by in a flash. It felt like she had just gotten to her room when it was time for Lita to leave for the arena. She figured this was a good place to talk to Kane. It could be private, but not too private. She still wasn't sure how her plan would work out, but she had nothing to lose and everything to gain; she had to try.

Once arriving at the arena she paused before opening the door. This was the first time she was going to face everybody since her attack. It had only been a couple of days, but she felt like she'd been gone forever. It was easy to ignore the phone calls, but seeing everyone in person was going to be more difficult. She wasn't ready to answer everyone's questions, hell she didn't have any answers herself. She also knew that once people saw her they would give her that sympathetic look, like they felt sorry for her. Even though she felt like her life was falling apart around her the last thing Lita wanted was for people feeling sorry for her. Taking a deep breath, Lita opened the door and quickly made her way to Kane's locker room.

When she got to his room she was surprised to find out that Kane had not arrived at the arena yet. Sighing she decided to head to the Diva's locker room and wait there. She was just about there when someone called her name.

She stopped walking and turned to the voice.

"Hey Matt. How's it going?" she said quietly.

"That's really all you have to say, I've been worried about you. I went to ask you to ride with me today and you were already gone, you didn't answer my calls, I thought something bad happened."

Lita let out a little laugh, "Besides all the bad somethings that have already happened you mean. I'm sorry you were worried. I'm fine, just wanted to get a head start out is all"

"Well you could have told me that, I really was worried. I'm just glad you're alright"

Matt went to give her a hug, but she moved back a little. "What's wrong, I can't give you a hug now?"

"I just don't want Kane to see and get any ideas…"

"What do you mean by him getting ideas? Last time I checked you were my girlfriend, remember?"

"Yea well now I'm being forced to marry Kane. Matt, he can't see us being intimate in any way. Even a hug could make him freak out; you know how he is."

"I can't fucking believe this. You're really worrying about _his _feelings now? Li come on, I can handle it"

"It's not his feelings I care about, it's _your_ health. And not for nothing, you haven't really done a great job at handling it so far"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Matt stared at her in shock. Did she really just say that? Sure he got his ass kicked a few times by Kane, but he was doing everything he could to protect her. At least she wasn't seriously hurt in the situation, she would have been in much worse shape had he just sat back and did nothing.

Lita felt bad for saying that last sentence the second it left her lips, but she couldn't believe how he was behaving. How he could not understand that any public contact between them could cause more trouble for them both.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean it like that. I just don't want things to be any harder than they have to be. I'm trying to figure things out, fix everything. I came here early tonight to talk with Kane; to try and compromise so I could have some of my normal life back."

"Like that's going to work. He's not a reasonable person Lita. He's not someone you can compromise with."

"I have to try! Don't you get that? He's been pushing us apart for so long. I at least want him to agree to let us be friends without…"

"Friends? You want to be friends now? After everything we've been through you just want to be friends?"

'Why is he making this so complicated?' Lita thought to herself.

She looked around to make sure nobody was listening. Trying to keep her voice from shaking she answered quietly, "Matt, you know how I feel about you. I would love nothing more than to go back in time to a year ago and forget all this, but it's not going to happen. Everything's changed and it's all my fault and now I have to try and fix it, but to do that I need to stay away from you; at least for a little while. I need to try and reason with him. It's the only option left."

"There has to be another way out of this. You're not having his kid anymore; I'm sure if we went and fought this…"

"THERE IS NO MORE FIGHTING IT!" Lita yelled in frustration.

That sure got some attention. A few people began to peek their heads out from different rooms around them.

"Fighting got us nowhere" she said more calm. "This isn't fun for me you know. I'm sorry you can't accept things how they are, but this is how things have to be. I have to deal with this on my own in my own way."

Before Matt could respond Lita quickly said "I have to go…"

And with that she walked off leaving Matt standing there with everyone's eyes on him. It took a few seconds for the shock to wear off before he realized what just happened. Pulling his hair in anger he walked over to the wall and punched it.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT? SHOWS OVER!" he yelled. Some people looked away and went back to what they were doing; others just continued to watch him.

Letting out a frustrated growl he left the hallway and made his way to the locker room.

As he passed, Gabriella opened the door she had been standing behind. Maybe her plan to break Matt and Lita up wasn't needed, it seemed to be going fine on its own. 'Still' she thought 'it would still be fun to mess with her head by making him fall for me.' Smiling to herself she went to follow Matt.

Gabby didn't make it too far down the hall before she was grabbed and pulled into a nearby room. It happened so fast she didn't have time to scream, but once in the room she realized who must have grabbed her.

"Ya know, you could have just asked me to come in here instead of grabbing me like that."

Kane just stared at her "I didn't want anyone to see you with me. I want to talk to you."

"Why don't you want to be seen with me? Are you ashamed of me?"

"It's not time for people to know about you yet. I wanted to tell you to meet me tonight back at the hotel. There are things I need to clear up and find out about you before I can begin to train you."

"Train me? I'm not a dog dad. But I guess I understand what you're trying to say. You want to see if I'm tough enough to be associated with you. Fine, I'll meet you tonight. I'm sure you'll find that I can keep up with you just fine."

Kane shook his head, she really was a piece of work. He handed her a paper "11 o'clock. You better not be late. Now go." He said as he practically pushed her out of the room and slammed door.

'That is going to have to stop' she thought as she walked away from the room.

Gabby now had to find something to occupy her time. She didn't have a match scheduled; she just came by to observe for the day. She went over by the GM's office and saw the list of matches for the evening. Matt was in the first match of the night set to go against Edge. After the scene Matt and Lita had this afternoon in the hallway Gabriella was sure he would be willing to talk to her tonight. She could probably work on him a little before she had to leave to meet her father.

"Tonight's going to be a great night" she said out loud to herself.


	10. Chapter 10

Gabriella eventually made her way to the Diva's locker room; she would need to make sure she looked extra good tonight if her plans for Matt were going to work. When she entered the room was empty except for one person, Lita. Rolling her eyes she almost left to find somewhere else to go, but got another idea instead.

Walking over to her bag Gabriella began going through her things, Lita didn't seem to notice her at all. 'Jeez, you'd think she'd learn to pay more attention after what I did to her last time.' After a minute of not being noticed Gabby let out a loud sigh. That got her attention, Lita turned around so fast Gabby thought she would fall out of her chair; seeing this Gabby had to fight the urge to laugh.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I scare you?" Gabby asked sweetly.

"No, it's fine. Just didn't realize anyone else was in here."

"I only just walked in. Umm, listen this is kinda embarrassing, but you don't have any female products on you, do you?"

The look on Lita's face was priceless. It was that shocked yet upset face that said 'she can't be serious'. Gabby could have sworn she saw the redhead's eyes get wet with tears as well. Once again she had to try not to smile; it was too easy to play with this woman's emotions.

"No, I don't" Lita answered shortly.

Now it was time to put her acting skills to work. Bringing her hands up to her month Gabby shook her head.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't even think before I… I just… Shit! I always do this; sometimes my mouth just says things before my brain can stop me. You must think I'm such a bitch. I'm sorry."

Lita felt bad. Clearly this girl was new here and didn't know about everything that was going on. It wasn't her fault and now she went and got her upset.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you"

"Look, let's just start over. Hi, I'm Gabriella. I'm new here and if you don't mind me saying I'm such a huge fan of yours. I can honestly say you are one of the main reasons I came here to WWE."

"Thanks for that. It's good to hear."

"No problem. Look, if you want me to leave I can..."

"No it's fine, stay. I was actually just about to leave. I guess I'll be seeing you around."

"Sorry again about all this." Gabby said as Lita made her exit.

Finding herself alone now Gabby checked the time. The show was going to start in 30 minutes, which gave her just enough time to get ready for her fun tonight.

Lita on the other hand went on a search for Kane again. When she found his room she listened at the door and heard movement inside, he must be in there. She paused not sure whether she should knock or just walk in. She knocked. 'Better safe than sorry' she thought to herself.

It was a few seconds before the door opened, reveling an angry looking Kane. Once he saw it was Lita who knocked though his face softened slightly. Without saying a word he opened the door more to allow her inside. She walked in, also silent.

Lita had been thinking of what she was going to say to him all day, but now that the time was here her mind went blank. Although she wasn't feeling as nervous as she thought she might, it was still intimidating to be alone in a room with Kane. She was going to have to fight these feelings if her plan was going to work; she was going to have to try to be comfortable and normal around him.

Before she could say anything Kane began to speak.

"I'm glad you came here, I was actually going to look for you myself. I wanted to talk to you about how things are going between us."

He paused and motioned for her to take a seat. Once she did he continued.

"I know our relationship didn't start out on a good note, but that's only because I was so focused on one thing. Now that we aren't having a child we can work on other things. I think the two of us could do great things here. You're tough. You don't take shit from anybody and you don't care what they say about you. For a while I thought you lost all of that, until you stood up to me the other day. I saw the woman that I picked to share my legacy for the first time in months. I shouldn't have gotten you pregnant so fast. I should have waited, but I knew you'd never leave that punk Hardy unless you were forced to. I didn't even think about you not being able to wrestle at first. I should have let you work out your frustrations in the ring for a while before we moved to that level. I'm going to give you that chance now."

Lita couldn't believe her ears. Was her luck really turning around? He was offering her almost exactly what she was going to ask him for. But why? Why was he all of a sudden trying to be nice to her? There had to be some other reason behind his actions besides her happiness. What else did he want from her? She asked him this and was answered by a laugh.

"We are getting married; we should be on the same page when it comes to things, don't you think? I don't want to have to threaten you and force you to do the things I ask, I want you to want to do them. Things will be better for both of us."

It had to be a test, there was no way he was being serious right now. After all the hell he put her through; how could he all of a sudden want to make things better for her? Even if he wasn't testing her, she was going to have to play this game carefully. One wrong move and everything would go wrong again. She was going to play along, see where it got her. If it turns out he is willing to be reasonable then she will bring up the Matt topic. She knew the only reason they were fighting was due to all the stress they were both under, but if Kane was really going to change he might just be alright with them having a friendship. If they could still have a friendship…

'Might as well start playing along now' she thought.

"I don't know where all this is coming from, but it sounds pretty good to me. Maybe we could start over. How bout we start tonight? Let's go back to the hotel together and talk…"

Gabriella would have to wait; Kane couldn't believe Lita was so willing to try this. 'She probably thinks I'm setting her up.' Whatever, either way he was getting what he wanted.

"Alright. I have to get ready for my match; you can come with me to the ring tonight. After I win we can leave together."

"It's a… plan" she almost said date, but that was pushing things a little too far.

He nodded, Lita saw that as a sign she could leave and made her way out of the door.


	11. Chapter 11

"1…2…3!"

Matt laid in the middle of the ring while Edge celebrated his victory. Once Edge left the ring Matt began to sit up, make his way out of the ring, and up the ramp to the back. He couldn't wait to leave; after the fight with Lita he was not in a good mood. He got his things and made his way to his car. Opening the door to leave he walked through so fast he literally ran into Gabriella.

"Hey where's the fire? Someone is sure in a rush to get outta here, huh?"

"Hey Gabby, sorry bout that. I had a bad night and just needed to get out."

"Yea I kinda heard the whole argument with Lita earlier. I wasn't trying to, but it did get a little loud. How are you doing?"

Matt shook his head.

"Well if you want a distraction, you can keep me company. I'm supposed to be meeting a friend at their hotel, but it's not til later. I was just going to head over there now; I didn't feel like being here anymore. They weren't going to use me anyway. What do you think?"

Matt agreed once he found out that the hotel she was going to was the one he was staying at anyway. Why shouldn't he be able to have a night out? Gabriella followed Matt in his car to the hotel. Once they got there they went to the hotel bar. Matt ordered the drinks and went to sit with Gabby at a table away from everyone else.

"So, good match tonight. I didn't get to see the end of it, but you looked great out there."

"Things were good til took a bump outside the ring; I landed on my shoulder a little hard."

"Aww poor thing. But I'm sure you're used to things like that by now right? I'm going to have to start getting used to it. I wish I had a match tonight. I know I'm new, but I could still use the exposure. My next match isn't until next week. I can't believe I'm going to be in Vegas and not be able to go to a casino."

"Why not? You can go during the day before the show, I'm sure you'd have enough time."

Gabby smiled and took a small sip of her champagne. "I'm sure I'd have time. Thing is, I'm not exactly allowed to go to casinos…"

"Why wouldn't you be allowed to…" he paused "Wait, how old are you?"

"Nineteen…" she answered biting her lip. "But I'm mature for my age; I've practically been an adult since I was an infant. I've been taking care of myself for a long time."

Matt laughed a little. He knew she was young, but never did he think she was still a teenager. He was flattered though that someone so young was into him. Usually all the younger girls were into his brother Jeff. Everyone saw Jeff as the cool brother; Matt was more of the serious one. It felt good to be wanted. Plus she was pretty mature and very easy to talk to. They talked for hours the other night and she actually gave him some good advice.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you the other night. It just didn't come up and usually when people find out how old I am they don't want anything to do with me. They think I don't know what I'm talking about. I didn't want you to leave… I hope you're not upset with me. You were so open and honest and I…"

"I'm not upset. You didn't do anything wrong, I was just shocked. It doesn't matter how old you are, we had a good talk. I wouldn't have gone out with anyone else tonight to be honest. If it was anyone but you who asked I would have just gone to bed."

"Oh stop it your making me blush"

They once again spent a few hours talking; this time not so much about Matt and Lita, but just about themselves. After a few drinks Matt found himself getting more flirty. Why shouldn't he have a little fun? Lita said she just wanted to be friends; she probably did plan on leaving him the whole time. If she was going to move on with her life why shouldn't he?

It was about 10:30 when Gabby remembered why she was here tonight.

"Will you excuse me for a minute; I need to see what room my friend is in"

As she walked to the front desk she was angry that she was going to have to leave soon. Matt was really starting to respond to her flirting and now it would have to end. Who knows how he would be the next time they saw each other. She got to the front desk and asked for Kane's room number. It was then that she was told there was a message left for her.

"He said he would 'be in touch and plans were canceled for tonight.' That was all, I'm sorry" said the clerk.

"No problem at all, thanks for the message."

Suddenly her night was looking up. Going back to the table Gabby sat down with a sigh.

"Well I messed up royally. I just realized I had my cell turned off, my friend called me a while ago to tell me she switched hotels. I'm sorry; I have to cut the night even shorter. I've got a little bit of a drive ahead of me."

"Oh no you don't, you've had quite a few drinks. I can see it in your eyes you're not ok to drive."

Gabby giggled "My champagne eyes always give me away. I know I shouldn't drive, but I have no place to stay. I was planning on staying with my friend tonight."

"I'm not letting you drive; you can stay with me if you need to."

He didn't know why he said it. He should have offered to put her in a cab. Hell he shouldn't have let her drink at all after he found out how old she was. But she was sweet and smart and very sexy. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he was feeling very into this girl. She made him feel good.

"I don't want to put you out…"

"You're not. Come on, let's go."

Once they were in the room Matt found some sweatpants and a t-shirt for Gabby to change into. They sat up talking some more when Gabby noticed Matt rubbing his shoulder.

"Is that still bothering you? You really must have fallen hard."

"It'll be fine, not the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

"Still can't be comfortable. Here, let me help."

She went behind Matt and started massaging his shoulders. She felt Matt tense up at first, not really sure he should be letting this happen. She ignored this; she was going to make him want her. If it didn't happen tonight she didn't know if she would get another shot. It would kill Lita to find out that Matt was with another woman, it would be even worse when she found out it was with Kane's daughter.

It took a few minutes, but Matt finally closed his eyes and let himself relax. It felt good to have someone pay attention to him like this. It had been forever since he and Lita had any kind of private moment where they could just relax. He slowly felt the pain in his shoulders lessen. Gabby was very good at this, she put just the right amount of pressure in all the right places. Focusing on her movements and getting lost in the feeling of her hands, Matt got a little too relaxed and found himself getting hard.

Hoping Gabriella didn't notice he put his hands on hers to stop her movements.

"It feels better now, thanks. I'll be right back."

He tried to stand up, but Gabby pushed down on his shoulders keeping him sitting.

She brought her mouth to Matt's ear. "You know, I'm good with other muscles too" she said softly.

Matt's eyes widened. He shouldn't have let her stay here. He should have known something like this was going to happen.

'I think you did, that's why she's here…'

The thought came and went so quickly Matt could barely register it.

"I can't…"

Gabriella let her hands move from his shoulders, down his arms, and across his chest.

"I know it's confusing for you. You still have feelings for her, but you have needs too. "

"It's not right…"

"She just wants to be your friend. How do you know if you're ready to move on unless you try? You deserve to be happy. How long has it been since you've been happy?"

'Too long' Matt thought. Could he really do this? Everything she said made sense, but he wasn't sure if that was just the alcohol talking.

She didn't wait for an answer. She moved her mouth to his neck and began placing soft kisses on his pulse point. When Matt let out a soft groan, she knew she had him.

She moved herself around to face him. Straddling him on the chair she looked right into his eyes, as if giving him one last chance to say no. It took one look into her glassy 'champagne eyes' as she called them for Matt to lose control. She gave him a sly little smile. That sealed the deal; he was too far gone now. He pulled her face to his and began kissing her. Hard. Gabby smiled against his lips and brought one of her hands behind his head, the other found its way down his pants.

Slowly she began to pleasure him with her hand, it was driving him crazy. A small voice in the back of his head was saying this was wrong, but he ignored it. When his breathing became uneven, Gabby broke the kiss and moved her lips to his neck again. This combination of sensations was too much for him, he came within minutes.

Their lips found each other again, this time they weren't hard and fast; they were slow and sweet. It wasn't long before Matt's body lost control again. Both still fully clothed Gabby began to move her hips against his hoping he'd take the next step.

He did; picking her up he moved her onto the bed. It was only when they were both shirtless that Matt look like he was fully aware of the situation they were in. Seeing the unsure look in his eyes Gabby spoke in barely a whisper.

"Don't think. Just go with how your feeling right now. Worry about everything else later…"

Again she made a lot of sense. Tonight he was going to think about himself.

That was the last thought he had before giving all of himself to Gabriella.


	12. Chapter 12

Matt was awoken the next morning by sunlight shining through the open window shades. Letting out a groan he turned his back to the window; it was then he found himself face to face with Gabriella. She was still asleep with nothing but the sheet covering her body. Suddenly the events of the night before came flooding back to him.

He couldn't lie to himself, last night felt great. Being with Gabby had been very different than it had been with Lita. With Lita it was all about expressing their love for each other. With Gabby it was not about love, it was all lust. Lita was very passionate, but still reserved. Gabby defiantly wasn't shy; she told him exactly what she wanted him to do. He had never had someone be so open and free during sex before.

The slight headache he now felt reminded him of his mental state last night. Now that the alcohol wore off he was thinking clearly. He felt guilty for what he did, but more so because he enjoyed it. The only thought Matt had was 'what happens now?'

Gabriella was a nice enough girl, but where did they stand? Before last night they could barely be called friends and now they had taken a very serious step. He might have had a good time with her, but last night was simply a matter of needing both a mental and physical release. She knew all the right things to say to him feel good. She was able to make him forget about everything else going on in his life. But she was so young; there was an eleven year age difference between them. As mature as she was Matt was sure her age could be a problem at some point.

'A lot more is wrong with what happened then just her age' he thought.

He was very selfish in his actions. Things with Lita were messy and hard at the moment, but that didn't mean he wanted her out of his life. He just didn't know how much more he could take before he broke down. He didn't want to just give up; he had already fought so hard. To stop now would make it all for nothing.

Then again, from the conversation he had with Lita yesterday, it seemed like she was ready to call it quits. She basically told him to give up on her; that they could not be a couple anymore and she would stay with Kane. She was taking the easy way out. Could he really fight for someone who had given up on herself?

Matt turned back around and sat up on the bed.

'Of course I can' he thought. That settled it; he wasn't ready to give up on her.

Looking back at Gabriella and felt tears begin to form in his eyes. In his mind he and Lita never actually broke up, meaning that last night he had cheated on her. That was something he never thought he would do. He felt like a jerk, how could he do something like this? Getting up off the bed he went into the bathroom and shut the door. Matt looked at himself in the mirror. Looking himself in the eye he began to cry out the tears that formed. He was so frustrated he slammed his hands against the countertop.

It was that sound that woke Gabriella up. Finding herself alone in the bed she figured it must have been Matt who was making all the noise. Grabbing a t-shirt from the floor she put it on before walking to the bathroom. Once she was near the door she didn't hear banging anymore; those sounds were replaced with soft sobs. She already knew why he was crying, but she couldn't believe it.

'What a baby. Can't handle a little random sex…'

She waited a few minutes to see if he would come out on his own. When he didn't she knocked on the door.

"Hey hun, I need to get in there if you don't mind."

It took another minute for Matt to open the door. He walked past her not saying a word and began to pick up some of his things.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing" he answered shortly.

Rolling her eyes she walked over to him. She tried putting a hand on his arm, but he shrugged it off and moved away.

"Did I do something wrong?"

He said nothing; he seemed too focused on folding a shirt at the moment.

"You know you're going to have to talk to me at some point, right?"

"I think you need to go" he said not even looking at her.

She walked over to him again, grabbed him by the face this time, and forced him to look at her.

"No, I think we need to talk."

"Talking was how this whole mess started…" Matt said quietly.

"Mess?"

"I cheated on the one person who ever really meant anything to me. If there was any chance of us getting back together I ruined it by letting last night happen. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have led you on. Everything I touch turns to shit lately, nothing has been right for a long time."

"This wasn't your fault, if anything it was mine. I just couldn't help myself. You were so sad; I thought I could give you a much needed distraction. Maybe we went a little too fast, but hun you didn't cheat on anybody. From what you told me you two haven't really been acting like a couple for a while. Still I can see where you're coming from. You don't want to look bad, I understand that completely. That's why we can keep this a secret. We can leave here today and it will be a fresh start, like nothing ever happened."

Matt gave her the 'yea right' look.

"I'm serious. I'm a big girl and I'm defiantly not clingy. We can go our separate ways and leave it at that. If you decide you want to be friends again at some point then great, I'll be there for you. If not, I'll leave you alone. The ball is in your court after I walk out of the door. No hard feelings. It is my fault for making you feel like this. I'm sorry."

She paused to let what she said sink in.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry too. I feel like I used you. Like I said everything has been going wrong. Everything is just too confusing; I don't know what's going to happen next."

Gabby started to put her clothes on while he was talking. "First of all you didn't use me. I wanted this much more than you did, believe me. I'm happy to have just been with you once than never. As for what's going to happen next, as far as you and me, only you can decide."

She put her shoes on and walked over to him.

"I know you heard this once already the week, but I really do hope we can be friends when all is said and done. But as I said before, it's all up to you. Thanks for keeping me safe overnight."

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he could say no and left without waiting for a reaction.


	13. Chapter 13

The rest of the week was mostly uneventful. Kane and Lita were spending most of their time together; something that was not going unnoticed by everyone around them. Matt had been trying to write to Lita from the moment Gabriella left his hotel room, but she continued to ignore all his messages. He needed to get her away from Kane long enough to talk some sense into her. Kane had a match tonight so he would be distracted, that would be his best chance to get her alone. At least he hoped so.

Matt wasn't the only one getting frustrated. Gabriella hadn't heard from her father in almost a week, when was he going to make an effort? She had of course heard that he and Lita were spending a lot of time together. She couldn't believe he would pass up time to get to know his daughter, his and Katie's daughter at that, to spend time with that slut. What did he think was going to happen? Did he think that after months of torture and causing so much pain for her that she was going to forgive everything? Fat chance. What exactly was Lita's plan in all this? Why was she playing along? The bitch needed to be stopped. Gabriella had come too far to let some whore come in between her and her father. It was back to planning mode for Gabby.

Lita was surprised how calm her week had been. Kane was actually treating her civilly; they were talking rather than yelling at each other. After he approached her about changing they went to his hotel room. There was silence for a while, but eventually they started talking. It was strange, but she was able to finally express her frustrations with him. She was shocked when he started telling her about his past. There were only a handful of things anyone knew about Kane, but now that he opened up to her she could see why he acted the way he did. It was still strange and slightly uncomfortable to be alone with him, but it was getting better. The only thing that would have made everything go wrong again was if Kane saw Lita's phone with all Matt's messages on it. Lita couldn't believe he wouldn't stop, didn't she make it clear what would happen if Kane saw them talking. Why couldn't he just let her try things her way and wait to see what happened? She was worried about what he might do tonight at the arena; she just hoped he would be able to read her body language and take a hint tonight when they saw each other.

Matt Hardy was one of the first people to arrive at the arena that Monday night hoping he would see Lita right when she got there. Realizing he couldn't just sit by the entrance all night he decided to find his locker room and get ready for the show. On his way to the locker room he walked passed Eric Bischoff's office to see the match listings; he would need to see when exactly Kane's match was taking place so he could use that time to get Lita alone. Kane's match was two after his own, Matt couldn't have asked for better timing. As he was about to walk away he saw Gabriella walking towards him. He hadn't seen her since their night together and while he didn't want to be mean, he wasn't ready to deal with her tonight. He started to walk away from the office passed her; to his surprise she didn't even look at him. Instead she stopped right in front of the list where Matt had been only seconds before.

Gabby was looking for almost the same thing as Matt when she looked at the list; she was going to talk to her father tonight. She needed to set him straight and embrace her as his child. Looking at her own match she sighed; opening match Gabriella vs. Christy Hemme: match type to be decided by the Raw Roulette wheel. Knowing Eric and his fixed wheel this was hardly going to be a match. It would probably end up being a lingerie pillow fight or something equally annoying. How was Kane going to take her seriously when the only time she was in the ring it was against easy opponents? Something had to be done. She knocked on the office door hoping Eric was in there. Hearing him say 'come in' she pinched her skirt up and entered the office.

The crowd screamed and cheered as the pyros went off signaling the start of Monday Night Raw. Suddenly the screen changed to show Eric Bischoff in his office standing in front of the Raw Roulette wheel.

"Welcome everyone to Monday Night Raw. Tonight every match you're going to see is going to have a stipulation which will be decided by this." He moved out of frame to highlight the wheel. "As you can see there is a large variety of match types on here; any of the wrestlers competing tonight could very well have to compete in … " he paused as he moved the wheel "a steel cage match, or how about a first blood match, or it could be Eric's choice. We don't know what's in store for tonight, so why not get things started."

At the que Christy Hemme's theme music hit. She was greeted by cheers as the crowd as she entered the ring.

As her music cut Eric began to talk again "Alright everyone settle down, I'm sure you're all just as excited as I am to see what type of match the Divas are going to compete in. Well I thought it was only fair to let Raw's newest Diva take a spin at the wheel to decide her fate. Gabriella…"

"Thank you Mr. Bischoff" was all Gabby said before she spun the wheel. She just hoped Eric didn't back out on his word, the last thing she wanted was to get a win in a bra and panties match. The wheel seemed to spin forever Eric looked over to her and winked before it suddenly stopped. 'Way to be obvious Eric' Gabby thought rolling her eyes.

"Well, look at that… a falls count anywhere match. Looks like you better get out there and show me why we hired you Gabriella."

With a quick thank you kiss to Eric, Gabby quickly left to make her way to the ring. Men were too easy.

As soon as the bell rang to start the match Gabby began to beat on Christy; not that it was that hard to do. Gabby didn't keep the fight in the ring for long; she wanted this type of match to show she was ruthless and didn't care about other's wellbeing. The match went on for about six minutes and Christy was pretty much dead weight at this point. They were on the top of the ramp; it was time to finish this. Gabriella picked Christy up and gave her a chokeslam. Pinning her for the three count she only hoped her father was watching. This was her second match and the second time she used one of his signature moves to beat her opponent. Maybe he would respond well to flattery.

Not long after getting backstage Gabby spotted Kane and Lita. It looked like they had just left the GM's office, which meant Kane found out what type of match he was having tonight; a no disqualification match. At least she hoped Eric kept his part of the deal about that match also, she didn't see why he wouldn't he already gave her what she wanted with her own match. Walking past the couple hoping she Kane would notice her. If he did he made no attempt to talk to her. This was getting old, but it would be hard to ignore her later.

Matt had just finished his own match; a submissions only match. His mind was not in the ring that night which caused him to lose. He didn't care though; he had something more important to do tonight. He quickly made his way near Kane's locker room so he would be able to get the most time to talk to Lita. He didn't have to wait long. The door opened and out came Kane followed very closely by Lita. They were heading towards him when he and Lita made eye contact. It only lasted a second and before he could react Lita grabbed Kane's arm and got him to go in the other direction. That was it, he couldn't take it anymore. Lita was going to talk to him tonight even if that meant he had to take out Kane first.


	14. Chapter 14

Kane's music hit, as the arena went red from the lights he and Lita were on their way to the ring. Snitsky wasn't going to wait for his own entrance to begin; he ran through the curtain and began to beat on Kane. The two men fought all the way down to the ring. Despite having the upper hand in the beginning of the match Kane quickly got the better of Snitsky. The match continued to be one sided in Kane's favor for several minutes before Kane became bored and decided it was time to finish. Just as Kane was setting up for the chokeslam Matt came running down the ramp with a steel chair in hand. Lita spotted this and ran in front of Matt to stop him from getting in the ring.

"What the hell are you doing, get out of my way" Matt couldn't believe she was stopping him from getting at Kane. He turned to go into the ring, but was stopped when Lita grabbed the chair and pulled it from his hands.

"Lita, give that back to me now! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Just leave us alone, you're not helping!"

Kane saw them arguing out of the corner of his eye. Letting go of Snitsky he turned to watch the events that were unfolding outside the ring. He smiled to himself realizing Lita was defending him. This distraction was the opening Snitsky was looking for and he quickly took advantage. He got up, ran at Kane, and threw him over the ropes right between Matt and Lita. Snitsky exited the ring and went to grab Kane. Lita still had the chair in her hands and took a swing at him, but he was too fast for her. He ducked just in time causing Lita to hit Matt over the head with the chair.

She was in shock; dropping the chair she ran over to Matt to make sure he was alright. Before she could get there however she was grabbed by Snitsky.

"You think that was a smart move trying to hit me with a chair bitch? How would you like it if someone hit you with one?"

Keeping her in his grasp he bent down and quickly got the chair. He then forced her into the ring and continued to taunt her. Lucky for Lita he didn't get the chance to do any damage because Kane was up and back in the ring. Seeing Snitsky stalking Lita was the breaking point, he got hold of him and destroyed him. Several chair shots later Kane stood victorious in the ring with Lita. Making sure she was ok he took her arm and led her out of the ring. As they left they passed by Matt who was still groggy from the chair shot minutes before. Lita wanted to check on him; even taking a few steps in his direction, but quickly stopped herself when she felt Kane's eyes on her. She decided now was not the time; she promised herself she would talk to him later to apologize. Allowing Kane to take her arm again she walked with him up the ramp and to the back.

As they made their way through the curtain the first person they saw was Gabriella. The three of them stood staring at each other for a few seconds. Kane didn't know what to do. He still hadn't told Lita about this girl; what if she said something right now? He didn't have long to wonder as Gabby sidestepped around them and made her way out to the ring. The action left both Kane and Lita confused; she had no business out there right now. They went back to their locker room; both wanting to see what was going to happen in the ring, but neither wanting the other to know why.

The crowd also seemed confused as Gabby walked down the ramp. Matt was starting to come out of his daze. He sat up, but still feeling slightly dizzy he kept his head down with his face in his hands. It was only when he felt a hand on his arm did he look up coming face to face with Gabriella.

"The match is over isn't it? She's not out here is she?"

Gabby frowned and shook her head. "Let's get you out of here. You ok to stand?"

Matt nodded and pulled himself up. As the two of them walked backstage the memories flooded back to him. Lita had stopped him from attacking Kane; not only that she hit him with the same chair he was planning on using to defend her. Knowing she didn't hit him on purpose he would have expected her to at the very least say she was sorry for doing it. Instead she left him almost knocked out so she could leave with the man that had ruined their lives. Instead it was Gabriella playing the role of concerned friend even though he hadn't said two words to her since the last time they were together.

They walked in silence to his locker room. When they got to the door Matt opened the door for her, inviting her inside.

"You don't have to; I just didn't want to leave you out there. I didn't do it for…"

"I know. I want you to come in. Please" he added in a small voice.

He wanted to be alone, but didn't feel like being by himself; if that made any sense.

She gave him a small smile and walked inside. Matt followed, shutting the door. Down the hall, Lita stood in doorway of her and Kane's room peeking her head out just in time to watch the exchange between the two. She couldn't help the ping of anger and jealousy she felt.


	15. Chapter 15

"Are you sure there's nothing I can help you with?"

Gabby had been sitting watching Matt pack up his things since they walked into the room. Other than him saying he was fine, the two weren't speaking to each other.

'Talk about déjà vu' she thought.

"No, I'm almost done. Sorry I'm not much company at the moment. Listen I want to thank you for staying with me. I also wanted to apologize. I was a real jerk and went out of my way to avoid you after... well you know. Anyway, I'm sorry."

"Matt, you have nothing to be sorry for. I told you, I'm not clingy. I knew you were going through a lot and needed time to sort everything out. I was never mad at you; I knew you needed your space. I'm just glad you're talking to me again."

She had to be the most understanding woman in the world. He was glad she wasn't the type to hold a grudge. He didn't want to admit it, but he missed her company. It was so strange; they hardly knew each other yet he felt like they had been friends for years. He sat down next to her and pulled her in for a hug; her arms made their way around him almost instantly.

"Thank you for being so great. It's nice to have someone who gets it, ya know?" Matt said.

"Yea, I know" Gabby said breaking the hug.

"Not to ruin the moment or anything, but do you think you'll be heading out soon?"

"Just gotta take a shower. Why?"

"Are you gonna be alright by yourself? I'm supposed to be going out tonight, but if you need me I can stay."

"Go out, have fun. One of us should. I'll be fine."

"Alright, good. But if you need anything here's my number. Do not hesitate to use it, I mean it. I don't care what time or what it's about, alright?"

He smiled and before he realized what he was doing, he went in and kissed her.

"Thanks again for everything Gabby. It means a lot."

"Call me if you need anything" was all she said before walking out the door.

He didn't know why he did it; he just knew it was what felt right at the moment. She was mature enough to deal with whatever was going on between them without putting a label on it; why shouldn't he?

Getting his things ready for the shower there was a knock on the door. Figuring it was just Gabriella he said 'come in'.

"Forget something…" he said turning around. His face fell when he saw Lita standing in front of him.

"What do you want? Shouldn't you be with your fiancé or something; wouldn't want him to the 'the wrong idea' about us"

"Mature Matt, real mature. I wanted to make sure you were alright, although you seem to be feeling well enough to have some tramp in here with you for the past half hour."

She sounded a little hurt, maybe even jealous saying that last sentence. 'Good, now she can see how I've been feeling' Matt thought.

"Now who's being mature? You didn't seem to care about how I was doing when you snatched the chair from me or after when you hit me with it and just left me there. What I don't understand is how you could defend him. Why not let me get a few good shots in on him? He deserves to hurt after everything he's put me through."

"Us through; you're not the only one dealing with this. Why is it every time we talk we keep going around in circles? Look, I just came here to apologize. Instinct took over; I couldn't help it. I didn't mean to hit you and for your information I tried to check on you right after, but that freak Snitsky stopped me. If Kane hadn't gotten to him when he did I…"

"Oh well thank God for Kane then, huh? Good thing you finally have someone who can defend and protect you. I'm sorry I wasn't good enough at that for you."

Lita looked on the verge of tears. Talking to Matt was useless; he didn't understand and always felt the need to attack her. She never felt so helpless and alone then she did the past few weeks. Everything she tried to do blew up in her face.

"I'm done…" was all she said before leaving the room.

Matt didn't even try to stop her.

* * *

As Gabby shut the door behind her she spotted Lita standing a few feet away. She looked like she wasn't sure whether to get closer or not. Not missing a beat she went up to her.

"I know what you're thinking and let me just say, don't do it. He doesn't want to see you. You've already caused him enough pain. Besides, I just gave him all the comfort he needed. So why not do both of you a favor and back off."

Lita's jaw almost hit this floor.

'Who does this bitch think she is' Lita thought. She wanted so badly to say something back, but didn't have the chance. Gabby walked away too fast; giggling to herself.

Turning her head back Gabriella saw Lita enter Matt's locker room.

'Dumb bitch' she thought. Stopping in front of Kane's locker room she didn't even think about knocking; she walked right in. Kane, who was sitting in the middle of the room, looked to see who entered. Seeing Gabriella he stood up and went to grab her.

Gabby ducked and was able to move to the other side of the room. "So I've been thinking, isn't it time we figure things out between us?"

Kane looked out the door into the hall to see if anyone was around, seeing no one he shut and locked the door.

"What do you want?"

"I'm pretty sure I made that clear last week, remember last week? When you found out you had a daughter or did you already forget? Judging by the fact you haven't tried to say two words to me since then I thought you might need a reminder."

"I don't need a reminder, I need time. I'm getting married next week; I've been trying to work on that. All I wanted was to be normal; to have a family. Part of that was taken away from me already; I need this marriage to work. You would just complicate things."

"I complicate things? I'm already your family! I'm your blood. If anything _she's_ the one complicating things. You won't tell anyone about me because you think it will scare her away. NEWS FLASH! The only reason she's with you is fear. She's terrified of you; she wants nothing to do with you. Face it _DADDY_; she's not Katie and she never will be! So why are you even…"

"SHUT UP!" he shouted grabbing her by the throat.

For the second time Kane saw fear in Gabby's eyes.

"Now listen carefully, this is the last time we are having this discussion. I don't know why you picked now to find me, but it was the wrong time. We are going to do this my way. I'll let everyone know about you when I'm ready to, got it? Until then why don't you be a good girl and get the fuck out of here while you still walk on your own."

With that he practically threw her out into the hallway.

Sitting on the floor Gabby let herself catch her breath. 'His way my ass. Next week he's going to see just who he's messing with.'


	16. Chapter 16

Later that night Matt found himself outside of a nightclub waiting to get in. He hadn't planned on going out, but when his friends Shane and Shannon showed up at this door and threatened not to leave until he came out he didn't really have a choice. Although clubs weren't really his scene, it had been a long time since he went out with just the guys and it would be a good distraction from everything else that was going on.

It wasn't long after they got inside that Shane and Shannon made their way to the dance floor with a couple of girls. They had invited Matt to join them, but he opted to sit out; he never was big on dancing. Instead he sat by the bar people watching. The club was pretty crowded for a Monday night and a lot of them were already very drunk. Soon Matt started regretting coming out; his friends left him by himself and he was still confused about his own relationships to allow any of the women to talk to him.

'So much for boy's night' he thought. He couldn't blame them; they didn't understand. He decided to leave; this really wasn't his thing. Getting up he walked through the crowd of people towards the exit when something caught his eye making him stop.

He saw Gabriella sitting at the bar talking to a guy. Although he knew they weren't a couple he couldn't help but feel a little jealous. He stood watching her when a hand slapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey man, sorry I was gone so long. Got caught up if you know what I mean" Shane said.

"Yea I know it's no big deal" Matt answered not looking away from Gabriella. She was still with the same guy and just finished doing a shot together. Shane followed Matt's gaze and smiled.

"Does Matt Hardy have his eyes on the new girl?"

Matt smiled. "I've already had more than my eyes on her…" he said.

Shane looked confused for a second before realizing with Matt just said.

"Really?"

Matt nodded. He didn't know why he said it; it just kind of happened. He was afraid of his friend's reaction.

"Then why aren't you over there with her instead of just watching?"

That was not the response he was expecting.

"So you don't think I'm a jerk for cheating on Lita?"

"It's not cheating if you're not together. I know things didn't end in the most normal way, but its ok for you to move on if you're ready."

"And what if I don't know if I'm ready?"

"Then it's not the worst thing to explore you're options."

That was pretty much what Gabby had said right before they hooked up. It was good to hear from a friend that what he did didn't make him a bad person.

He watched her get up from the bar and walk toward the restroom. Saying a quick thanks to Shane Matt went over towards her direction.

Meanwhile, Gabby was fixing her makeup in bathroom. She almost didn't go out after her confrontation with Kane, but she was so angry she needed a distraction. Too bad it wasn't working so well. Her mind was too busy working out exactly how her plan was going to work; she wasn't going to be a secret any longer. Figuring it was better to end her night she left the bathroom planning on finding the exit.

As she walked through the crowd she was stopped when she felt hands go around her waist. Rolling her eyes she tried to move away, but was pulled back into the grip. She tried looking back to see who grabbed her, but was too close to get a look at his face.

Now she was getting frustrated. Feeling the grip loosen she made another attempt to get away, but was spun around and met with a kiss.

It took her only a few seconds to realize it was Matt and relax.

"Look who's out and about. Didn't expect to see you here tonight" Gabby said.

"I was actually on my way out, but then I saw a real sexy girl and just had to talk to her."

"Should I be jealous?"

Matt smiled and went back in for another kiss.

"Wanna get out of here?" Matt asked.

'Might as well have one last go with him' she thought.

She took his hand and they left together.


	17. Chapter 17

Gabriella's mind was so full she thought her head was going to explode. Tonight was the night she announced to the world why she was here; who she really was. She was never the type to get nervous, but there were so many things that could go wrong tonight. If her father didn't get over his anger at her actions tonight she was going to have a hell of an enemy on her hands. Then there was Matt. He had barley left her side since they left the club last week. That being said he had been getting more and more quite as the days went on. As they arrived at the arena for Raw he still hadn't said a word to her all day. Although he hadn't said it, Gabby had a feeling he was going to make one last attempt to win Lita back.

If that wasn't the case before, after entering the locker room Gabby was sure that would be the case. There was a letter with Matt's name on it. Knowing it could only be from one person Matt opened it feeling nervous.

Sure enough it was from Lita. It was basically an apology letter for everything that had happened, everything that was said, and a promise that through it all she did still love him. She said that she wasn't going to let Kane run things his way anymore and she asked him for his help tonight.

Gabby walked behind him and read over his shoulder. Rolling her eyes she waited for Matt's reaction before she did anything.

"I don't believe it. She's asking me for help. She wants me to try and stop the wedding" it was hard to read his tone; he was in shock.

"So, are you?"

Matt turned around; he forgot that Gabby was with him. He didn't want to hurt her, but he needed to get his Lita back. Hopefully she would be as understanding as she said she was.

"I have to. I'm sorry; I can't just leave her, not after she asked me to save her"

He was surprised when she smiled.

"You don't have to be sorry. In fact I think I can help you."

"Really? You would do that?"

"Of course. I just have one little thing I have to do first."

With that she pushed him back against the wall. She moved one of her hands behind his head forcing him to look at her. She gave him a little smirk and brought her face closer to his. He was too shocked to realize she pulled handcuffs out of her waistband. With her free hand she quickly grabbed his wrist and locked him onto the heat pole in the room.

"What the… Get these off of me" was all he could say looking at her in disbelief.

Gabby ignored him; she started going through her bag looking for her outfit for tonight.

"What is this for? Gabriella, look I'm sorry I led you on I shouldn't have done that. But you said you were cool with whatever; I didn't know what I wanted to happen. Doing this isn't going to stop me from going back to Lita. Like you said, we can still be friends. Please, unlock these."

"You're not going to want to be my friend and I don't care if you go running back to the slut. This isn't about you Matt, it never was. Don't worry, you'll figure everything out soon."

Matt started to yell for help causing Gabby to smack him hard across the face. She grabbed his other arm and locked it to the pole also.

"Stop yelling, you're making an ass of yourself."

When he didn't stop she pulled duct tape from her bag and taped his mouth.

"Don't look so mad, you're not going to have to stay here all night. See, I'm going to leave the keys right here and after I'm finished in the ring tonight I'm sure someone will come and save you. By the way I meant it when I said I could help you. By keeping you in here it's already helping. By the end of tonight I wouldn't be surprised if you thanked me. By the end of tonight I will have fixed all your problems."

That was the last thing she said to him as she started to get herself ready.

* * *

The moment was finally here. Kane stood in the ring, which was now made up to look like a small wedding chapel, waiting for Lita to make her way down the aisle. He couldn't stop smiling all day and his grin only grew wider when the wedding music started signaling Lita's entrance. He was expecting to see his bride in the beautiful white gown he picked out for her; however his face fell when he saw her standing there in a black dress and veil instead. He thought she was over trying to defy him by now; looks like she wasn't giving up so easy.

As Lita walked down to the ring her heart was pounding. She wasn't sure how tonight was going to end, but she was hoping for the best. She hadn't seen Matt all day, so she had no idea if he had gotten her letter and if he did if he was going to help her. She knew she had been treating him like crap lately, but she prayed that her last attempt to reach out to him would work. When she made it half way to the ring she finally looked up at Kane. He was glaring at her, watching every step she took. It was making her nervous. He didn't look too mad, but she was sure that was going to change. She was done trying to please him and was going to let him know it.

After what seemed like forever she was standing across from him. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath until she saw Kane's hands come up by her face. Instinctively she flinched back before realizing he was moving the veil over her head to show her face. Grabbing her chin he forced her to look him in the eyes.

"Nice dress" was all he said before releasing her face.

With a nod to the priest the ceremony began.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Kane and Lita; to wish them a lifetime of happiness and love. And now the bride and groom would like to recite their own vows. Kane, would you like to start?"

"Lita, when I first chose you to carry my legacy I did so because you were strong. I knew that you would defend yourself as best you could. There were times when I thought I broke you, but then you would go and surprise me with your courage. Even tonight, on _MY_ night, you chose to defy me. While I used to admire that about you, there is something you need to know. You are mine now Lita, my property. And you will learn your place. As for my child, things didn't quite go as planned, but don't you worry. We will be successful next time, yes there is going to be a next time, I can guarantee it."

The whole crowd was a chorus of boos. Kane didn't care; he needed Lita to know he was still in control. His eyes didn't leave her once during his vows. Her face had the most disgusted look on it and it was only after he mentioned trying for another baby did she show a glimpse of fear.

"Alright then. Now, Lita would you like to continue" the priest said, obviously uncomfortable.

Lita kept her brave face on as she reached into her bra for her 'vows'. Taking a deep breath she looked one more time into Kane's eyes before she started to read.

"Kane, I hate you more than anything else in this world. You are a vile, horrible man with no soul. And even though I'm being forced to marry you, I want you to know that I love and I will always love Matt Hardy. And as unfortunate as it is that I never got to meet _MY _baby, I can't help but feel a little relived that it will never have to live in a world with you in it."

The crowd was going nuts with cheers at this point. When she looked up from her paper she expected him to look angry. She was shocked and annoyed when he was smiling, even clapping along with the audience.

"That was beautiful" he said simply, knowing he was getting under her skin.

If the priest wasn't uncomfortable before he defiantly was now.

"Ok, well… Umm… Let us continue. Before we announce you husband and wife, if there is anyone here who feels that these two should not be joined in holy matrimony speak now or forever hold your peace."

Lita turned to the entrance ramp with hopeful eyes. "Come on Matt, please" she said in barely a whisper. Someone in the crowd tried to start a "Hardy" chant, but most of crowd was just watching along with Lita. The seconds passed like hours, with each one Lita felt more and more alone. Closing her eyes she turned back to look at Kane. He had the biggest smile on his face and she felt like going over to him and slapping it off, but didn't dare.

Just as the priest was about to speak, Matt's music hit.

It was Lita's turn to smile. Kane quickly went into defensive mode, waiting for some type of attack.

After a minute the music changed to Gabriella's theme, leaving everyone in the arena confused.

Gabby walked onto the stage wearing a little black and red dress laughing into her microphone.

"Oh the looks on your face were priceless" she said, still giggling into the mic.

"Too funny, but enough with the games. I have something to say, I have some reasons why these two shouldn't be married."

"Don't do something stupid, girl" Kane said with rage in his voice.

Gabriella continued as if she didn't hear him.

"Lita, Lita, Lita… Poor little Lita. I had you thinking your knight in shining armor was going to come out here and rescue you, didn't I? Don't get me wrong, I'm positive he would have tried to, had he not been detained for a while. It just proves what kind of a slut you really are. Look at yourself. You cheat on your loving, caring, sweet boyfriend with Kane to 'help protect him', as you said. You know what I think; I think you loved every second of it. I've been watching the two of you; you didn't look so threatened by Kane anymore. You come out here tonight saying you still love Matt, yet you treated him like shit for the longest time. You thought he would sit around depressed he lost you, didn't you. But then you saw how fast he was able to move on and it killed you to know you didn't have control over him anymore. So what do you do? You go playing the 'I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you' card and Matt being the loser that he is, was too stupid to realize it. You use people Lita."

Lita was almost in tears. She knew none of it was true, but it still hurt to hear it.

Gabby then turned her attention to Kane.

"And you. You really expect these people to believe that all you wanted out of this was a chance to 'have a family'? Please, give us some credit. What makes you think that a baby, hell even Lita, would have survived living with you? Given your track record with past lovers I don't see how either of them would have had much of a chance. You said you chose Lita because she was strong; you said she wouldn't break easily. She broke pretty quickly the night she lost your baby though, didn't she? I'll bet she didn't even try to save it, maybe she even planned it herself…"

Kane looked over to Lita, who was now letting her tears fall freely. When she saw him looking at her she said "Make her stop, please"

Before Kane could react Gabby was talking again.

"Wah wah wah, make her stop, wah wah wah! Don't you see what she's doing? She's trying to use you now. 'Oh Kane, please clean up my mess for me. I don't want anyone to know the truth'" she said in a mocking tone. "She's deflecting the attention from herself. People usually do that when they are feeling guilty about something… "

Kane knew he shouldn't listen, but he couldn't help himself. The thought had crossed his mind of course that Lita would try to turn on him, but he didn't want to believe it.

"Kane, you have a family remember. A family that can understand you, because they are just like you. You have a father, one who has tried to make up for the fact that he wasn't around more. You have a brother. Sure you helped bury him alive a few months ago, but brothers fight. I'm sure it's something the two of you could laugh about someday. The only thing missing from your little family portrait is a wife and child. You had the perfect woman for you, but unfortunately she's not coming back. Lita is never going to be able to fill her shoes. She might grow to tolerate you, but I know that if you two ever had a kid she would take off the first chance she got. Besides, do you know how much work babies are? They cry and whine and throw up. You really think you're ready to deal with all that?"

After a long pause, she continued.

"I came here to the WWE on a mission. I wanted a family. See I never had one, unlike you. As small as it is you still have people around you with your blood. Me, I grew up alone. My mother died when I was a baby, my aunt who was supposed to raise me gave up. I was bounced around from foster home to foster home like a piece of trash. I craved for a family of my own. See Kane this theory of family is what brought us together. You needed to be shown what you already had and I needed to finally meet my father. I hope that after tonight I succeeded in both. I hope that you can finally accept that you already left a legacy behind. I'm going to prove myself to you. I just hope that one day you will accept me into your family."

Gabby turned as if to leave. When she was almost backstage she looked back. "If you want to continue with this 'wedding' I can't stop you, but just know that she will never be what you want her to be. Also, I never liked the idea of having a step-mother."


	18. Chapter 18

The audience was stunned with this new information. Various parts of the area were trying to start different chants; none of them clear. Lita stood shocked as well, turning her head between Gabriella and Kane. Kane's face was a huge mix of emotions ranging from anger, to shock, confusion, and finally rage. While Gabby was making her speech she didn't believe for a second a word that came from this girl's mouth, but after looking at Kane and seeing his face it made her wonder.

"What did she mean by that?" Lita asked quietly.

This seemed to snap Kane back into reality. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he looked at Lita. It looked as if he was about to speak, but was cut off by a shrill scream coming from the top of the ramp.

Gabriella was dragged back onto the stage by Matt Hardy, who had her by the hair. She continued to scream and struggle against him as he pulled her closer to the ring. They were only a few feet away when Gabby kicked Matt in the knee as hard as she could. Letting go of her, she ran around to the opposite side of the ring looking up at Kane. Kane kept his eyes locked on Gabby the whole time. He couldn't believe she had the nerve to disobey him. Matt saw that Kane was distracted and took the opportunity to attack. Running up behind him Matt began to hit and beat on Kane. All Lita could do was stand and watch, she was too confused about everything that was happening to react. It was only when she saw Gabriella go under the ring and pull out a bat that she came out of her daze. As Gabby began coming towards the ring with the weapon her hands heading for Matt, Lita jumped down off the ring apron and stepped in front of the other woman blocking her path to the now brawling men.

"You just keep getting in my way don't you? Why can't you just go away? Who are you protecting now anyway you little whore, Matt or my father?"

Lita didn't take the time to answer; she grabbed the bat from Gabby's hands, tossed it aside, and jumped on her, arms swinging. It felt good to finally be able to take out her aggressions. Gabby only managed to get in about 2 hits and a scratch to the face before Lita had full control of the fight. It was short lived, however because just as fast as the fight had started it was over when Lita felt a hand on her shoulder pulling her off of Gabriella. It was only after being spun around she realized it was Kane holding her. Looking past him into the ring she saw Matt sprawled out unconscious. Gabby started to get up, but all it took was an angry glare from Kane to make her stay where she was.

Giving her one last warning look, Kane took Lita by the arm and brought her over to the announce table where the priest had been hiding.

"Get back in there, we are finishing this" Kane growled.

When the priest didn't move right away Kane grabbed him and led him to the ring along with Lita. Gabby sat with her back against the guardrail looking at the scene happening in front of her. She couldn't believe after everything she said he was still going to marry this tramp. Figuring she had nothing to lose she got up and walked up to them. She approached slowly to show she wasn't going to start anything.

The look on Kane's face was full of rage and disbelief, his eyes didn't leave his daughter the whole time she came into the ring. When she was a safe distance away she tried once more to reach out to him.

"Please, don't do this. She's only going to bring you down. She wrote to Matt telling him to come out here and stop the wedding. It was only because she wanted to sneak around with Matt that she showed you any kindness. Believe me I know, he's been telling me everything. He's told me how she was only pretending to be over him so you would trust her. Don't do this, at least not now."

Seeing that Kane was listening and did not appear to want to hit her, she continued.

"She's only going to come between us. I'm sorry I came out here tonight and told our secret, but I couldn't hold it in anymore. Now that everyone knows I can finally prove myself to you. I can show you that you don't really need her. You shouldn't have to put up with her manipulating you. Again if you want to keep her around I can't change your mind, but you don't have to rely on her to give you child. I'm already here and I'm ready to carry on your legacy. Think of what we could do."

Both Kane and Lita just stared at her. Lita couldn't believe how much she knew of what had been going on between her and Matt. It made her sad that he would go and tell some stranger all about their private issues. Meanwhile, Kane's head was spinning. There was too much going on for him to process at the moment. After taking a minute to gather his thoughts he grabbed Gabby and Lita by the arms, one on each side, and forced them out of the ring and up the ramp to the back. The wedding could wait, Lita couldn't go anywhere anyway. It was time they all had a talk.


	19. Chapter 19

Gabby didn't know how much longer she could take the silence. After being pushed into a locker room and forced to sit next to her would be step mother, Kane locked the door and stood in front of it staring at the two of them. Lita didn't seem to know what to do with herself either, so she stayed quite looking down at her feet. Not wanting to be the first one to talk, but not being able to sit there any longer, Gabby let out a loud sigh.

This seemed to be the opening that was needed, Kane finally spoke.

"I told you we were going to do things my way. I told you when and _IF_ I was ready to introduce you to the world I would do it. You're lucky I didn't just toss you on your ass the second you barged into my locker room the first time. But no matter how many times I let you off the hook it wasn't enough, you go and pick tonight, the night I was supposed to get married to ruin everything. You had to go and ruin _MY_ night."

"Guess we really are alike. Like you, I don't wait for anyone. I tried to; I really did, but you weren't even making an attempt to reach out. I had to do something before you went through with the 'wedding'. I didn't want you to make a mistake." Gabriella paused for a moment to glance over at Lita.

"All I want is a chance to know you and you to know me, but she had you thinking you would be living a fairy tale life. I knew she was lying to you, just taking advantage of how badly you wanted a family. Like I said she was only trying to keep you happy to get closer to Matt."

That got Lita's attention. She had a million questions, but all she wanted to do at the moment was get her hands on this girl again.

"Excuse me? Who the hell are you anyway? You show up out of nowhere and all of a sudden everything gets turned upside down. What's your problem?"

"My problem is…"

"SHUT UP!" Lita yelled. Gabby's jaw hit the floor, Kane just stared at Lita.

She then looked at Kane, "Why haven't you beat the shit out of her yet? Who is she?"

Kane silently took Gabriella's birth certificate out of his pocket and handed it to Lita. It was easier to start that way; he had not been expecting to have this conversation tonight.

It was only when Lita's eyes grew wide in shock that Kane spoke.

"Remember when I told you about Katie leaving me? Well apparently it was only because she was forced to leave because she was pregnant. This was not how you were supposed to find out" he paused to glare at Gabby, "but it came as kind of a shock to me too."

"So this girl just shows up with a piece of paper and some story and you just believe her? Why haven't you had any tests done to prove she's telling the truth?"

"I just know" was all Kane said.

"Not everyone is a sneaky liar like you are Lita."

"You know what, I'm getting really tired of you and your mouth. Every time I've ever seen you you've been nothing but a nasty little brat. What's your problem with me? In case you didn't know, this whole situation was brought on by your" Lita paused; unable to say the word right away, " father. I never asked for this to happen. I don't know what Matt's been telling you or why he even showed interest, but none of this is any of your business."

"Oh I think it's pretty obvious why he would show interest" Gabby said smugly motioning to her own body.

In a flash Lita stood up and smacked Gabriella hard across the face.

"You little bitch, how dare you!"

"ENOUGH" Kane shouted getting in between the two women.

"We are not going to fight like this. We are going to sort this out everything and make this family work. I've worked too hard to let anything" he paused at looked Gabriella in the eyes, "or anyone get in the way of my plans. I'm not stupid; I know Lita's not playing nice for my benefit, but I'm also positive you aren't either. There's a reason you chose now to seek me out and if you're not going to tell me straight rest assured I will find out in my own way."

Silence filled the room once again. Tensions were running high; none of them really knew what was going to happen next.

It was Kane that once again broke the silence. He looked at Lita "Get your things, we're leaving. And you," he said turning back to Gabriella "you and I are going to have a nice long talk tomorrow about exactly what you've been doing around here. I don't know what you're plans are, but like I said I'm going to find out. You'll be better off if you tell me yourself. Now go."

She didn't need to be told twice; Gabby stood up and left the room.

She had some work to do. Putting together a story that was both truthful, but not too revealing shouldn't be too hard. She just had to make sure she focused on making Lita look bad. Maybe if she could just get him angry enough at Lita she could take the focus off her herself.


	20. Chapter 20

Gabby walked through the hotel lobby with a frown on her face. It had been a long day and there still was no way of telling what was going to happen next. She hated not being in control. Going into this situation she knew there would be a lot of variables, but she had hoped things would go a little smoother. She didn't really expect Kane to give her such a hard time; hoping he was desperate enough to accept her without a second thought. Not that it mattered, she always had a way of getting what she wanted in the end and this was not going to be an exception.

Still, tomorrow was going to be another long stressful day and Gabby already felt mentally drained. Stress relief is what she needed; kind of a shame she didn't have Matt to play with anymore. Sure she had no interest in him at all, but he was a distraction and made her feel more in control of things.

'Maybe I just need a night in; time to figure things out by myself.'

With a sigh she went to open the hotel room door, but couldn't shake the feeling like something wasn't quite right. She ignored this and entered the room.

It only took a few steps before something caught her eye. On the bed was a black rose with a small jewelry box and a letter under it. Walking over to the gifts she looked around. Nothing else looked like it had been touched, whoever left this dropped it and went on their way. Who the hell had been in her room? She picked up the flower first; it seemed the like most innocent looking. She wasn't sure which she should go for next, both items held a mystery she wasn't sure she was ready for tonight.

"Stop being a baby" she said to herself and picked up the box. Giving it a little shake there wasn't really a sound to give away what was inside. 'This is silly' she thought as she opened the lid.

Inside there was a sliver chain with a small silver charm on it. Upon getting a closer look Gabby realized the charm was an urn.

"Well that's morbid" she said as she went to pick up the letter.

Not much was written on the paper and although there was no signature Gabby had a pretty good idea who her visitor was after reading it.

"Welcome to the family. He will come around; we will make sure of it."

Short and to the point; she couldn't help but smile.

"At least someone wants me. Thanks Gramps."

Putting her new necklace on Gabby looked at herself in the mirror. Of course things were going to work out; maybe not exactly the way she planned, but something good was going to come from all of this.

With a new burst of energy Gabriella went through her clothes, tonight wasn't going to be a night in after all.


End file.
